Testicular Immune Cells in Murine and Human Fetal Development and Implications for Male Reproductive Health

Events in fetal life can affect adult male fertility. To address the critical roles of immune cells and immune factors in fetal organogenesis, macrophages, T cells, mast cells and neutrophils in human and murine fetal testes were investigated. Their number and distribution were shown to change dramatically. A specific growth factor important in both pregnancy and in fetal testis growth was shown to influence fetal testis immune cells using two mutant mouse strains with altered (high and low) activin A levels. Finally, the presence of neutrophils in adult human testicular germ cell tumours was investigated